Means for aligning calender rolls



p 1936- H. R. WILLIAMS MEANS FOR ALIGNING CALENDER ROLLS Filed April 1, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 15, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIE MEANS FOR ALIGNING CALENDER ROLLS Harrison R. Williams, New York, N. Y.

Application April 1, 1930, Serial No. 440,702

7 Claims.

This invention relates to the aligning of rolls to run in surface contact with each other and more particularly to the alignment of the rolls of a stack such, for example, as that of a calender for use in finishing a web of paper.

Where rolls are pressed together it is desirable to have them in close alignment for, if they are in skew relation with respect to each other there will not be a line of contact between them and any article such as a web of material will not be subjected to uniform pressure throughout its width. Heretofore, no suitable means has been developed for determining whether such rolls are in alignment.

An important object of the present invention is to provide novel means for use in the alignment with respect to each other of rolls which are pressed together. Another object is to provide means fordetermining the degree of deviation from such alignment.

The basic idea back of this invention is to provide for the establishment of what may be called a base or reference line or plane so that the distances therefrom of opposite ends of a roll will determine whether or not the roll is properly aligned with respect to a standard direction. This base for reference may be established by using the bottom roll of a stack to establish a vertical base plane at a fixed distance from the axis of such roll. The distances of opposite ends of an upper roll from such vertical base plane can then be measured and if they are difierent the upper roll is not in proper alignment with reference to the lower roll.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In drawings forming part of the present specification:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary end view of a stack with one end of the frame removed and with one embodiment of the present invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic View illustrating the passage of a web of paper through a stack of rolls;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view, in section, on a larger scale, taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a top plan view on a larger scale, of the upper cross member of the aligning device, the upright being shown in cross section.

The objects of the invention can in general be attained by use of a device including an upright, a member adjustable along said upright and designed to engage the lower or driving roll able member in engagement with the lower roll,

adjusting means carried by said upright in position to engage the side of such upper roll and serving to adjust said upright to vertical position, a micrometer gage adjacent said adjusting means and operable by engagement with such upper roll, and means to vary the position of said micrometer gage with reference to the upright to obtain a zero reading.

After applying the aligning device at one end of the stack and adjusting the same as above stated, the device may be shifted to the other end of the stack and the upright again adjusted to vertical position. The plus or minus reading of the micrometer gage will then indicate in suitable linear units variations in alignment between the two ends of the roll being tested with reference to the driving roll. The alignment of the upper roll may then be corrected in any suitable manner as by the use of shims between the body portions of the slidable end bearings of the upper roll and the edge portions of such bearings which engage guides carried by the end frames of the stack.

Referring to Fig. 2 of the drawings, I indicates the lower or'driving roll of a stack which also includes a plurality of rolls 2, each supported by the next lower roll and driven frictionally therefrom; and 3 indicates a web of paper which is introduced beneath the upper roll 2 and passes back and forth around the rolls 2 until it reaches the driving roll 5 where it is discharged from the stack.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, the driving roll I is pro- Vided at its ends with shaft sections 4 which are mounted in bearings of which the lower members are parts of the end frames 5 of the stack, and the rolls 2 are provided at their ends with shaft sections 5 which are mounted in bearings! slidable on upright guides 8 carried on the adjacent faces of posts Qforming parts of the end frames 5. In orderthat rolls 2 may be aligned with ref erence to the driving roll I when found to be out of alignment therewith, the grooved edge portions of the bearings l which fit over the guides 8 are formed as separate members l0 so that adjustment of the rolls with reference to the guides maybe made by the insertion or removal of shims to vary the positions of the members In with ing blocks 1. The members l0 may be attached to the bearing blocks 1 in any suitable manner as by the use of screws II passing through the members Iii to one side of the grooves therein and threaded into the bearing blocks proper.

In machines in which articles, such .as sheets or webs, are pressed by passing thembetween presser rolls, it is important to have line contact between adjacent rolls. Obviously such line contact will not be obtained if the rolls are in skew relation or out of alignment with respect to each other. The present invention provides for testing the alignment 'of rollers and for measuring deviation from such alignment so that rolls which are out of alignment may be brought into alignment. 1 r

The illustrated embodiment of the invention includes a member or bar I2 which, when in use, is in an upright position and may therefore be referred to as an upright. Slidably mounted on the bar I2 is a member I3 having an inner end :which is designed to engage the lower roll I at its side and at the level of the axis of the roll. Preferably the roll engaging end of said member I3 is broad in the direction of the axis of the lower roll so sidewise rocking of the testing device is prevented. Preferably the main body of the member I3 is provided at one side with a recess to receive the bar I2 and the bar is held in the recess by a plate I4 secured in position by suit- I able means such as screws I la. Mounted in the outer end of said recess is a presser plate I5 held in the recess by lugs I6 at the ends thereof and arranged to be pressed against the outer edge of the bar or upright I2 by means of a thumb screw I'I threaded through the outer end of the member I3. 'The reason for having the member I3 adjustable alongthe upright I2 will be brought out 7 I hereinafter.

To support the alignment testing device, use is made of a cross member or bar I8 forming part thereof and arranged to rest on the upper side.

' means such as a presser plate 2| at the outer edge of the upright and held in the recess by lugs 22, and a thumb screw 23 threaded through the outer end of the bar I3 for engagement with such' plate.

In order to have a suitable base or base line to, measure from at opposite ends of the stack, the upright I2 should be adjusted to the same position with reference to the lower roll I at bothjends of the stack before the difference be.- tween the distances of the upright member is determined; Preferably the upright I2 is adjusted to a vertical position by means of an'adjusting screw or rod 24 designed to engage the roll whose alignment is to be tested. The screw 24 is. perpendicular to the upright I2 and is threaded through a bracket 25 secured to the [upright I2 at one side thereof. For convenience 'of operation the'screw is provided at its outer end with a knurled head26. In order to determine when the upright is in vertical position, use

may be 'made of any suitable means such as a surveyors level 21 mounted on the cross member I 8 by which the device is supported. Mounted on the opposite side of the bar I 2 from the bracket 25 is .a bracket 28 (Fig. 3) in which is mounted a bar 29 parallel to the screw 24 and held in adjusted position in said bracket 28 by means of a thumb screw 30, Secured to the inner end of the bar 29 is a micrometer gage 3I of a type to give both plus'and minus readings and operated to give such readings by means of a plunger 32.

In installing'the rolls of a calender stack, the bottom or driving roll I is installed in its fixed bearings, the next roll 2 is installed, and after the two rolls have been run for a few minutes, say four or five minutes, the alignment of the upper of the two rolls with reference to the lower is tested. In order to use the testing instrument of the present invention, the cross member I8 is adjusted along the upright I2 until the distance between its lower edge and the axis of the screw 24 is substantially the same as the radius of the roll 2 whose alignment is to be tested, and the screw 23 is then tightened to maintain this adjustment. To facilitate the adjustment just referred to, the upright I2 may be provided with suitable graduations 33 which may be observed through a sight opening 34 in the plate I9. The member I3 for engagement with the lower roll should also be adjusted to a position such that the distance from the axis of the screw to the medial horizontal plane through its contact end is substantially equal to the sum of the radii of the the two rolls, the'member I3 against the lower roll I, and the screw 24 in engagement with the upper of the two rolls; the screw 24 is operated to bring'the upright I2 to vertical position as indicated by bringing the bubble of the level to central position determined by the positions of the ends of the bubble at equal distances on opposite sides of the zero graduation of a suitable scale. The thumb screw 38 is then loosened and the bar 29 is adjusted longitudinally until'the micrometer gage 3i has'a zero reading. Then the. instrument is shifted to the other end of the stack and adjusted by means of the screw 24 until the upright I2 is vertical. The plus or minus reading of the micrometer gage 3| corresponding to any deviation of alignment will give sufficient information to enable the alignment to be adjusted by use of shims or in any suitable manner.

reference to the upper roll shown in Fig. 1 or with respect to the lower roll after suitable adjustment of the members I3 and I8 along the upright. By continuing the operation in this way each roll installed may be aligned with respect to the rolls beneath the same.

While I have illustrated and described in detail one embodiment of my invention, it is to be understoood that changes may be made therein.

1 do not, therefore, desire to limit myself to the specific construction illustrated but intend to cover my invention broadly in whatever form its Obviously another roll may be aligned with a therealong, micrometric means engageable with the other roll for adjusting said part to the same direction in any plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of said axes to determine gaug ing positions of said part, and indicating means settable to zero in a first gauging position and automatically operative in a second similar gauging position to indicate the difference in the distances from said part to the surface of said other roll in the two gauging positions.

2. A device for testing the alignment of two substantially parallel rolls arranged one above the other, including a straight bar, means carried by the bar and engageable with the lower roll for maintaining said bar at a fixed distance from the axis of the lower roll, means for resting upon the upper roll and supporting the bar therefrom, an adjusting screw carried by said bar and arranged to engage the circumference of the upper roll so that the bar may be brought by turning the screw to the desired position with the bar extending in a predetermined direction, and levelling means to indicate when said bar is in the desired position.

3. A device for testing the alignment of two substantially parallel rolls arranged one above the other, including a straight bar, means carried by the bar and engageable with the lower roll for maintaining said bar at a fixed distance from the axis of the lower roll, a screw carried by said bar and extending at right angles thereto to engage the upper roll and adjust the direction of said bar, a member extending from said bar to engage the top of the upper roll and support the testing device, said member being adjustable along said bar to make the distance from its roll engaging surface to the axis of the screw correspond with the radius of the upper roll, and means for measuring the distances from said bar to corresponding surface points of said upper roll when the bar is adjusted to corresponding positions at opposite ends of the rolls.

4. A device for testing the alignment of two substantially parallel rolls arranged one above the other, including a straight bar, a screw carried by said bar and extending at right angles thereto to engage the upper roll and adjust the direction of said bar, means carried by the bar and engageable with the lower roll for maintaining said bar at a fixed distance from the axis of the lower roll and including a roll engaging member adjustable along said bar to locate its roll engaging portion at a distance from the axis of the screw corresponding with the distance between the axes of the rolls, a member extending from said bar to engage the top of the upper roll and support the testing device, such supporting member being adjustable along said bar to make the distance from its roll engaging surface to the axis of the screw correspond with the radius of the upper roll, and means for measuring the distances from said bar to corresponding surface points of said upper roll when the bar is adjusted to corresponding positions at opposite ends of the rolls.

5. In a device for testing the alignment of two rolls, in combination, a supporting arm for resting on one of the rolls and adapted for adjustment to a level position, a member supported therefrom and having a vertically extending face for engaging the periphery of one of the rolls in the horizontal plane of the axis thereof, a second roll-engaging member adjustable horizontally to engage the periphery of the second roll in the horizontal plane the axis thereof to assist in securing and maintaining the level position of the supporting arm, a member depending from the supporting arm and carrying both of said roll engaging members, said device serving, when applied and adjusted at opposite ends of the rolls to determine a vertical base plane located at a predetermined distance from the axis of the first roll and in parallelism therewith, and an adjustable indicating means carried by the device,

' engageable with the periphery of the second roll in the horizontal plane of the axis thereof and settable to zero when the device has been applied and adjusted at one end of the rolls as described, said indicating means being automatically effective when the device is similarly applied and adjusted at the opposite end of the rolls to indicate the difference between the distances of the ends of the axis of the second roll from said base plane.

6. In a device for testing the alignment of two substantially cylindrical rolls, in combination, a member engageable with the periphery of one of the rolls in the horizontal plane of the axis thereof, a support for said member, a micrometric adjusting means carried upon the support and engageable with the periphery of the second roll in the horizontal plane of the axis thereof, said means being adjustable while in engagement with said roll to tilt the support and cause it to occupy a predetermined position relative to the vertical plane of the axis of the first roll, a micrometer indicator carried by the support and adjustable in parallelism with the roll engaging micrometric adjusting means, including a plunger engageable with the same element of the second roll engaged by the micrometric adjusting means, said indicator being adjustable to read zero when the device is applied and adjusted at one end of the rolls, and automatically operative when the device is applied and adjusted to the other end of the rolls to indicate the difference between the relations of the ends of the axis of the second roll to the vertical plane of the axis of the first roll.

7. In a device for gauging the position'of rel atively adjustable and fixed calender rolls, in combination, supporting means including spaced members having abutments constructed to be held against the side of the said rolls at one end thereof, means for setting said abutments in spaced positions in accordance with the distance from a vertical plane tangential to one of the rolls to a vertical plane tangential to the other roll, an indicating instrument associated with said supporting means having an element yieldably biased to engage one of said rolls, said device being movable to repeat the gauging operation at the opposite end of said rolls, and said indicating instrument having means when this second gauging operation has been effected to indicate automatically the extent of adjustment of the rolls required to bring the axes of said rolls into parallelism.

HARRISON H. WILLIAMS. 

